Forty-seven: You know, when plans get pushed up, it’s a mess, right?

It had been just a few days since the cockatrices were confirmed.

Since they’d been living deep in the western woods, we’d banned entry into the forest for a while, while mass-producing anti-stone and stone-reversal potions, and discussing strategies with Kyle and the others.

Given the monsters’ habits, both me and the adventurers figured we had a few weeks’ leeway.

So, while sweating over the alchemy cauldron, trying to crank out more anti-stone potions than we should’ve been, that cat-beast suddenly burst in—so I had to ask again.

“What?”

The adventurer guild clerk, Miki, said it twice.

“Meow! I said the cockatrice horde is coming! They’re heading straight for this town!”

I didn’t even answer Miki—I just bolted out the door.

The first place I headed was the lookout tower. It was an absurdly tall watchtower, built purely for height so it could see across the great river. Naturally, it was built for moments like this.

“Ah! Craft-san!”

“Up we go!”

“Got it!”

Adventure scouts I already knew were guarding the entrance, but I just breezed in with a nod. I sprinted up the endless spiral staircase, and when I reached the top, a roaring gale slammed into me.

Guess it’s always windy up here, at this height.

“Hey! Where’s the cockatrice horde!?”

“Over there!”

The lookout pointed. I stared in that direction.

“‘Far Sight’!”

I cast the spell instantly, scanning the edge of the forest.

“…No way.”

“Would’ve been nice if that was a joke.”

“…”

I couldn’t even bring myself to reply properly.

The distance was still far off, but there was no doubt—the cockatrices were charging toward the town, stampeding.

Stampedes by monsters were rare. They’d long been accepted as a kind of disaster.

And what happened to towns caught in a monster stampede?

You could see it for yourself. Cleaned out. Flat. Everything—people, things—swallowed whole.

“Kyle’s been notified!?”

“Of course the messengers are already on their way! But I decided we needed to tell Craft too!”

I know the face, but not the name. Never thought I’d earn that kind of trust from a mercenary I’d never even learned the name of.

For Kyle’s sake. For the town’s sake. I don’t care what it takes.

“What’s the defense setup!?”

"Kyle-sama was still in the preparatory phase for gathering his personal troops. The only ones you could call a正规 army are Alphard and Persia."

I knew that.

Finally, after receiving permission from Kyle’s father, Lord Bairoroad, to maintain private forces, he’d been setting things in motion—preparing to recruit soldiers.

Building barracks for housing, purchasing weapons and armor—of course, the groundwork too.

"How many adventurers have we contracted for defense purposes!?"

"Roughly three to four parties, so probably around twenty."

"Twenty…"

That was more than enough to maintain order in the town. But nowhere near enough to change the situation.

"Relax, Craft. Every one of us adventurers has sworn, if push comes to shove, to defend this town."

"What…?"

I froze, eyes snapping away from the flock of cockatrices, staring straight at the adventurer in disbelief.

Adventurers are basically creatures who value their own lives above all else. Next comes gold.

Sure, trust and reputation matter—but we’re not mercenaries. In the end, life doesn’t get weighed on the scales.

That’s why adventurers are so sharp when it comes to things like this. Life’s always on the line.

“We adventurers are grateful for this village—no, the town now. And honestly, we’d all like to stay with Kyle-sama and you guys, if we could.”

“That’s nice to hear. But we don’t know if it’ll pay off yet. We’ll talk it over with Kyle—”

“Don’t need to say it for everyone. We’re not just moving as adventurers right now. We’re doing it as people. As friends. You don’t need calculations to save a friend, do you?”

"Yeah... yeah, that's right. You don't need a reason to save a friend, do you?"

"Exactly. Anyway, how the hell do we get out of this mess?"

"Should we assume we can move two to three hundred adventurers?"

"Yeah. But don’t expect any military-style coordination. They’re just a bunch of lone wolves, those guys."

"Got it."

He’s an ex-adventurer. He knows how it works.

Even if you can sync up with your own party, try to coordinate with multiple parties, and suddenly everyone’s moving like they’ve got rust in their joints.

Now I get why adventurers hate joint missions.

That dragon hunt last time was different.

Everyone had to work together—or die. We trained for nearly a month straight. Can’t compare this to that.

"Would’ve been easier if the walls were finished..."

"Was almost done too."

The lookout adventurer glared down at the castle wall, lips curled in frustration.

I burned the route of the cockatrices and the current state of the wall into my head like a map.

"I'm going down. I'll head back to the Adventurer's Guild. If the cockatrices change direction, let me know right away."

"Got it."

I tumbled down the long spiral staircase with everything I had. Bumped my shoulder against stone walls more than once. Who cared?

"Craft! Brother Craft!"

"Kyle!? You were down here the whole time!?"

"Yes!"

I burst into the Adventurer's Guild, and the large room where Mika led me was already packed with the key members of the town—Kyle among them.

"Where's Alphard?"

"Alphard’s got the townspeople evacuated to the church or sturdy buildings."

"Smart move, Kyle. What counts as 'sturdy'?"

"Several buildings in the central part of town, made of alchemically hardened rock."

"Ah, I see. Yeah, that’d be like a wall of sorts, wouldn’t it?"

Kyle was brisk and sharp with his orders—nothing like his usual laid-back vibe. Turns out he’s got it in him, after all.

The church, too, was built with alchemically hardened rock. Should be safe. It’s pretty spacious—could hold a decent crowd if we need to shelter people for a bit.

"...The problem’s the parts of the city wall that aren’t finished yet."

"Yeah."

From above, three spots stood untouched. So the wall had three gaps.

"Chief of the Sinog Guild, how many adventurers can you mobilize?"

"Almost all answered the emergency call with a yes. But some are already out of town. Can’t reach them."

"Raidock?"

"Unfortunately, he’s not here."

"Damn it."

In a world where one can wipe out an entire group, losing Raidock is like losing an entire battalion or regiment. Maybe even more.

But luckily, the adventurers in this town are all top-tier.

“Sainos. Send about two hundred of the strongest adventurers to the western hole. Split the rest between north and south.”

“Two hundred in one spot? That’ll leave the others pretty thin, won’t it?”

“From the tower, I saw the Cocatrices are going wild—stampeding. They’re probably heading straight for us. And once they spot humans, they’ll charge without looking left or right. Most likely straight at the adventurers gathered to the west.”

Gulping, the guildmaster swallows hard.

“Leifan. Sorry to ask, but can you take all the completed petrification prevention medicine to the west? And send as many Healing Potions and Cure Potions as you can to all three locations.”

“Got it!”

Leifan leaps out immediately.

For a split second, the guildmaster showed relief—then his face hardened again.

"So, are the north and south just disposable forces then?"

No. Kyle. Send Alphard and Persia north and south. They’ll be fine with just a few people.

Understood, Brother.

Kyle answers immediately, even though he knows his personal guard will be gone.

Honestly, quite the character.

So, if we take west as center, north is right, south is left. The central force is led by the Adventurer’s Guild, and the left and right wings are commanded by Lord Alphard and Lady Persia, is that right?

Yeah. Sorry, but I’ll leave the central appointments to you.

Understood.

I could’ve just left it all to Raidock, if he’d been here.

What’s the point in begging for something you don’t even have?

But how the hell do we deal with the petrification on either flank...

We’ve got a small stock of antidotes for petrification. Just started making them—quantity’s still low. First, we’ll split this between the left and right units.

It’s only a temporary fix.

Yeah. While they’re undoing the petrification, they’ll hold the line.

That’s insane.

While they’re buying time, I’ll make petrification-prevention ointment.

Make it!? Now!?

Yeah. The materials are already gathered.

Now it’s just a race against time!

Nn… gotta… keep… updating… (´Д`)